Penn State Holds A Special Place For Scott Radio

Scott Radio has been a man for all seasons at Parkland High, but will be concentrating on the fall at Penn State University.

Radio did not get a scholarship for the PSU soccer team, but has been assured a roster spot by head coach Barry Gorman.

Radio was a three-year starter at defensive fullback at Parkland and played every game for head coach Chris Bleam. He helped the Trojans to an 11-2-3 record this past fall and was named a first-team East Penn Conference all-star for his efforts.

He also participated on the Parkland track, wrestling and fitness teams.

Radio got plenty of offers from other schools, and thought about going to Miami (Ohio) and Valparaiso (Ohio), but Penn State holds a special place in his heart.

"I grew up going to Penn State all the time," said Radio, whose father, now an Obstetrician/Gynecologist, was a pre-med student there.

"He took me up there a lot since I was 18 months old and I'm always hearing about the accomplishments of the student athletes and I know I could get a good education and play a sport at the same time. But I want to make it clear my dad didn't talk me into, it was my decision."

Radio got familiar with Gorman by attending a couple soccer camps at State College.

Division I schools are allowed to provide 11 soccer scholarships, but soccer is considered a minor sport by PSU so the Lions have only enough funding to dish out eight. That works out to two a year to incoming freshmen. Three other non-scholarship players are also recruited.

As a defender, Radio didn't accumulate many statistics during his soccer career. He registered on penalty-kick goal this year, a shoot-out goal as a junior, and finished with five assists.

"I got a lot of plays started, but the ball always hit other people," he said. "Our defense the last three years has done a lot more than what stats can show."

Statistically speaking, however, the Parkland defense was very sound last year. The Trojans allowed an average of just 0.88 goals per contest, good for third in the EPC.

For the past seven years, as soon as Radio was finished on the soccer fields, he would head to the wrestling mats.

He had his best season this past winter, winning 23 matches (at 125-130 pounds) and copping a District 11 medal. He may participate on an intramural level in the sport at college.

"It does help a bit going from one season to another as far as being in shape," he admitted. "But it still takes me a while to make the transition. It's a different kind of endurance so I'm still getting tired. I'm using different muscles. You've got to start working more on the upper body."

He continued, "This year we didn't get a break at all. That was the hard."

When that was over, Radio went to the cinders and participated on the 4x100 meter relay team and in the 200 meter dash while also participating for the fitness team.

In his first year of fitness competition, Radio came up with a score of 365 points at the recent state meet -- good for third best on the team.

"I was surprised at how much fun it was," he said.

Now, Radio is playing spring soccer with a bunch of his Parkland teammates for the Bethlehem Soccer Club's Under-19 Select team.

He will start at Penn State June 21 and participate in the soccer camps there once again.

"I'm looking forward to that. We have counselor games and I get to meet the rest of the team," he said.

As for his studies, Radio wants to maintain the sports theme.

"Orthopedic surgery is an option," he said. "I've had nine or 10 broken bones so I can tell by looking at an X-ray when one is broken. So maybe something in sports medicine."

* Parkland's Andrew Johnson, who led the Trojans in scoring and was the third-leading scorer in the EPC, will continue his soccer career at Muhlenberg College.

Ironically, the first contest for Muhlenberg and Penn State next year will be a scrimmage at 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 30 in Allentown.

Johnson tallied 12 goals and seven assists for Parkland last year.

Then he also wrestled for the Trojans (152-160) and is on the Bethlehem Select squad.